WINNERS OF PULITZER PRIZES IN JOURNALISM, LETTERS AND THE ARTS

Published: April 17, 1987

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The New York Times staff won for coverage of the aftermath of the Challenger explosion, which included stories that identified serious flaws in the space shuttle's design and in the administration of the space program. One of the most important revelations was that the possibly disastrous defects in the shuttle's booster rockets had been known several months before the launching and that engineers had warned that cold weather could aggravate the problem. INTERNATIONAL REPORTING Michael Parks The Los Angeles Times

Mr. Parks was honored for ''balanced and comprehensive'' coverage of widespread unrest in South Africa. The 43-year-old Mr. Parks was born in Detroit, graduated from the University of Windsor and began his reporting career at The Detroit News in 1965. For The Baltimore Sun, he covered the Vietnam War and reported from Moscow, Cairo, Hong Kong and Beijing, where he also served as bureau chief for The Los Angeles Times. In December, the South African Government, moving to restrict news coverage of the unrest, ordered him, without explanation, to leave. The order was rescinded after an appeal by Mr. Parks's editors, who pointed out that Government officials had been unable to cite a single ''inaccurate or unfair'' story among the 265 he filed in 1986. FEATURE WRITING Steve Twomey The Philadelphia Inquirer

Mr. Twomey won for his magazine profile of life aboard the giant American aircraft carrier America. Mr. Twomey, who is 35 years old, was born in Niles, Mich., and joined The Inquirer in 1973 after graduating from Northwestern University. He has covered suburban politics, education and labor for The Inquirer and until recently was the paper's correspondent in Paris. In his article on the America, he captured the daily routines of the ship's personnel and raised questions about the half-million dollars a day it costs to operate. COMMENTARY Charles Krauthammer The Washington Post Writers Group

Mr. Krauthammer, 36 years old, won for his witty, insightful columns on national issues. Before turning to writing, the native of New York City and graduate of Harvard Medical School practiced medicine for three years and worked on psychiatric research policy in the Carter Administration. He joined the New Republic as a writer and editor in 1980 and began writing a column for The Washington Post in 1985. Mr. Krauthammer wrote some of the first columns about the Iran-contra scandal, and his columns discussed such diverse subjects as the Reagan-Gorbachev meeting in Iceland, affirmative action and AIDS in the work place. CRITICISM Richard Eder The Los Angeles Times

Mr. Eder won for his book reviews that appear biweekly in The Los Angeles Times. Mr. Eder, 54 years old, was born in Washington and graduated from Harvard University. For 28 years he wrote for The New York Times, covering varied topics from wars to education to the Broadway theater. He held posts as a correspondent in London, Madrid, Belgrade, Washington, South America and the Caribbean, as a theater and film critic and as Paris bureau chief. Mr. Eder joined The Los Angeles Times in 1982 as its New York-based arts critic. He now lives in Boston, where he primarily reviews fiction. EDITORIAL WRITING Jonathan Freedman The San Diego Tribune

Mr. Freedman, who turned 37 last Saturday, won for his editorials urging passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, the first major immigration legislation in 34 years. Born in Rochester, Minn., he graduated from Columbia University in 1972. A novelist and illustrator, Mr. Freedman began as a journalist in Brazil in 1973, after someone told him The Associated Press needed an English-speaking reporter there. Mr. Freedman, who joined The Tribune in 1981, credits much of his success to his editor, Ralph Bennett, who encouraged him to study immigration first hand before undertaking any editorials. ''I had submitted a piece that described how the Mexican border was the place where water goes south and the human river heads north,'' Mr. Freedman recalled. His editor dismissed it with an expletive and said, ''Tomorrow, you're going to the border.'' EDITORIAL CARTOONING Berke Breathed The Washington Post Writers Group

Mr. Breathed won for his ''Bloom County'' cartoon strip, which contains social commentary in a setting of precocious children, peculiar adults and talking animals. Mr. Breathed, 30 years old, was born in Los Angeles and graduated from the University of Texas, where he developed the cartoon strip, which today appears in 1,100 newspapers. Mr. Breathed, who lives in Evergreen, Colo., has published four books of his comics. One of his winning cartoons depicts Dr. Opus Spock, a penguin, testifying before Congress in support of the ''Star Trek Strategic Defense Project.'' Like Pinnochio's nose, the penguin's beak grows longer with each response. SPOT NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY Kim Komenich The San Francisco Examiner

Mr. Komenich won for a series of photographs of the fall from power of President Ferdinand E. Marcos of the Philippines. Mr. Komenich, who is 30 years old, was born in Laramie, Wyo. He joined The Examiner in 1982 after earning a bachelor's degree in journalism from San Jose State University in 1979 and working for three years for The Contra Costa Times in Walnut Creek, Calif. FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY David Peterson The Des Moines Register